The French would rather the UK left the EU than stayed in

Prime Minister Theresa May (L) with French President Emmanuel Macron Reuters/Philippe Wojazer

LONDON — More people in France want Brexit to happen and for the UK to leave the European Union than to stay, according to a new poll by YouGov.

The survey showed 38% of French people said they would rather the UK left the EU, with 32% saying they wanted the UK to stay in. Almost a third (30%) said that they don't know what should happen.

Six EU countries were surveyed, with only France and Britain saying that they think Brexit should happen. Germany, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark all said overwhelmingly that they wanted the UK to stay in the bloc.

Six in ten (62%) Danes said they wanted Britain to stay, along side 56% of the Swedish and 51% of Finns. Almost half of Germans asked (49%) agreed that Britain should stay.

Support for Brexit in Britain was also clear, with 47% of those polled saying that they would prefer leaving the EU, against 43% saying that they want to stay in.

Polling shows that the French and the British want Britain to leave the EU YouGov

The data also revealed that Germans were largely positive about the idea of the UK changing its mind and reversing Brexit, with the most common responses being "relieved" (23%), "pleased" (22%) and "delighted" (15%).

However, the biggest reaction from the French was indifference, with 23% saying their response to the UK staying would be "indifferent." Fifteen percent of French people said they would be "angry" if Brexit did not happen.

YouGov also published polling showing that 48% of British leave voters would prefer that the UK left the EU immediately, compared with 47% who said Brexit should wait until after negotiations are complete.

On Monday Martin Selmayr, chief of staff to the European Commission said Brexit was a "stupid decision" which could only be reversed by the British people.